PUBG Corporation has announced the PUBG Global Series, the all new esports competition that will span 2020 and culminate in the PUBG Global Championship in November.
The Global Series will consist of three separate majors, with the top teams from each securing their place at the Global Championship. The three majors and the Global Championship will each contain 32 teams and have “larger prize pools” that are “supplemented by crowdfunding,” according to the official press release.
Teams will qualify for these majors through the regional leagues that were established in 2019 and the first Global Series major will be held in Berlin in April 2020. The next two majors will follow in July and October, with the Global Championship taking place in November. The locations for these events are currently unconfirmed. While regional leagues will act as the main method for qualifying for majors, the top four teams from the 2019 Global Championship (Gen.G, FaZe Clan, 4 Angry Men, and OGN Entus Force) have automatically qualified for the first major in Berlin, meaning only 28 spots are up for grabs.
It is unconfirmed whether this will be the standard for the following majors, which would see the top four teams in Berlin automatically qualifying for the July major and so on.
The regional league qualifiers will also now compose of “online and offline” elements, meaning teams will no longer have to be based entirely out of the same central location to compete in their respective leagues.
There are also promises that PUBG Corporation will “create new in-game items for each PGS event to supplement prize pools and generate additional revenue for participating teams,” as well as a revised Pick’Em Challenge system.
2019 was a rocky year for PUBG esports, with viewership on the decrease and a number of big name organisations pulling out of the esport altogether. There has been mounting pressure on PUBG Corporation to improve their esports initiative, and from these changes it appears that they’ve been hearing the feedback loud and clear.
Whether these changes to the esports structure will be enough to attract those who stopped watching events or prevent more teams from dropping out remains to be seen.
More specific information about the PUBG Global Series will be arriving in January 2020.